Ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin at Loyola November 4

(New Orleans)—Loyola University, in association with the Audubon Nature Institute and Octavia Books, will host an evening with New Orleans native, Mark J. Plotkin, Ph.D., on Monday, November 4, 2002. The crisis posed by antibiotic-resistant bacteria will be discussed in his lecture titled, “From the Spiritual to the Microbial: Rainforest Conservation, New Jungle Medicine and the Deadly Rise of Drug Resistant Bacteria.” Plotkin will appear in Roussel Hall, in the Communications/Music Complex, on main campus at 7 p.m. Students and educators will be admitted free with a valid ID. Admission for others is $10.

The Killers Within: The Deadly Rise of Drug Resistant Bacteria, Plotkin’s latest book written with Vanity Fair journalist, Michael Shnayerson, discusses the impending crisis that has led to a growth of superbacteria, similar to the ones that caused The Muppet’s Jim Henson quick and untimely death. As he researched another project in microbiology, Plotkin realized that bacteria were developing the means not only to reject antibiotics, but to use them to their advantage. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at a book signing following the lecture.

Plotkin has spent much of the past two decades working with the most ancient and powerful shamans in the Amazon to learn about their healing traditions and has written several books about this quest. Currently, he is president of the Amazon Conservation Team, an environmental organization that works in partnership with indigenous people to protect the rainforest. He has played a leading role in the IMAX film, Amazon, and has appeared on several national television shows.

For more information about this event, contact the Audubon Nature Institute at 581-4629 or Loyola University, 861-5888. Another book signing will take place at Octavia Books on Tuesday, November 5, at 7 p.m., at 513 Octavia Street.